Have Video Games Became too Easy?

I've been playing Sonic the Hedgehog on the ps3 for the past couple of days and I finally managed to beat it.  First time, much more difficult on the Genesis, since it didn't have a save system that could save anywhere during the game.  You could literally save it right before you goto the Chaos Bonus Level and try again if you fail.  This made it much simpler.  When I found out how to abuse this save system, I was saving it all the time.  I had around 7 lives and a handful of continues that weren't needed because of this.  And I said to myself, this is just too easy.  I would have never gotten this far on the original console.

And it's true.  I think the farthest I got on that game was Labyrinth Zone.  With maybe a life left and no continues since I drained them on the past zone.  It seems games have became to simple.  Even the older ones with save systems like this one.  Sure, I could pop in Demon's Souls if I ever feel like getting my ass handed to me, but that game is an exception to most games out these days.  Most of them are to easy even on their hardest difficulty setting with the save points and all that.

I have a stack of NES and SNES games staring at me every now and then, because I've gotten close to beating them, but still haven't (I'm looking at you Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mega Man X and x3!).  Because back in those days you lost all your lives, your continues.  That's it.  Back to the beginning you go and try, try again.  Until you ultimately fail and have to start over.  But at least you'll know about the earlier levels more since you've played it again and again, since you had to start over.  So progressing through them should be easy, but once you got to something new, that's when Hell breaks through and back to the start you go!

Maybe I'm being a bit hard on newer games out today and maybe I'm not.  Since I'm throwing down $60 for a game with a 12 hour campaign that usually has zero replayability.  Especially these First Person Shooters where most campaigns are just a set path.  Follow this line.  Back in the day when Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein owned the market.  There was so much to explore.  Even if each level ended the same way by getting to the end.  You didn't know to get there.  They just hand you a gun and told you to survive.  And figure it out on your own.  What am I missing here?  Because most of these games have zero influence on those kind of maps even though their engines still have some aspects of them.

And it does come down to money too.  I used to subscribe to Gamefly and it was much better to spend a cheap flat fee to play as many games as I wanted.  So if you beat this game in less than 20 hours and done everything you could possibly have, send that back and get something else.  It really takes away that feeling that you've been hooked, lined and sinked by spending that much on it and just having it sit there, since it was too simple, too easy and over to quick.

I'd like to know how many hours I have in those classic Nintendo games I've mentioned, because every few months I'll dust off my machine and try again.  Especially TMNT and Mega Man X.  I managed to get to the last level on TMNT, Shedder's base.  I think I had one turtle left and was annihilated by all the traps.  And I don't want to even get into MMX, because I still can't beat Sigma in his final boss form.  I've been playing these games since my early childhood/early teens and still can't conquer them, but the new CoD?  I'm sure I could beat it in 16 hours on Veteran.

But what do you think?  Do you like games how they are now or would you rather have them just a tad more difficult or expansive so you could actually get your monies worth out of them?